Rose & The Masked Alchemist
by KATTALNUVA
Summary: The following takes place sometime after Ed and Al's visit to Reole in FMAB. After suffering a complete breakdown, Rose finds herself in the company of an infamous bounty hunter who is known only as The Masked Alchemist. I just couldn't get this story out of my head.
1. Without Hope

Empty, blank, bare, hollow, broken, destroyed meaningless. That's how Rose Thomas felt as she made her way barefoot across the desert. After the death of her boyfriend she was enthralled by the promises of Father Cornello, who promised that if she believed then he could bring her lost love back to her, but then a State Alchemist named Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse came along and exposed Cornello as a fraud who sought only to use his blind followers as soldiers for his campaign for military power. After that she just fell apart, her last hope had been nothing more than a lie, and all Edward Elric could say was to stand by her own power, even though she had nothing left.

Things only got worse in Reole after that. A bloody civil war had erupted within the city between the deserters and those who remained loyal to Cornello. This compounded with her grief, and soon she just couldn't take it anymore. Her home was being consumed by blood and fire, her love was gone, she had nothing to live for, and so she decided to end it all. But no matter what she did she just couldn't find the courage to take her own life, so finally she resolved to let nature do it for her. One day she left Reole on foot and began to wander aimlessly with no food or money, and then when she finally reached the border of Amestris she took off her clothes and proceeded naked into the desert that separated Amestris from Xing. She would succumb to the elements a lot faster if the only thing protecting her from the sun was the hair on her back, besides if she was going to die then she might as well leave the world as naked as the day she was born. She was already exhausted from having walked this far. She didn't need to pull a trigger, kick away a chair, take poison or anything; she just had to keep walking until there was absolutely nothing left.

"It's funny, he told me to get up and walk on my own two feet, and that's exactly what I'm doing… straight into the great unknown."

It didn't take long at all for her feet to start burning, and the rest of her body began to follow suit. In a matter of hours she began to ache all over and felt very dizzy. She managed to make it across several more dune before she threw up, then she stumbled and rolled down the hill landing face first in the sand. The parts of her body that hadn't already been scorched by the sun were burned by the hot sand. At this point her body hurt all over and she simply couldn't get up, it took every last bit of her willpower just to turn over onto her back. She knew it wouldn't be long now.

The wind picked up, and soon Rose's body was half covered in sand. Her mouth was so dry she was beginning to wonder if she had swallowed a mouthful of the stuff. The sun shone brightly in her eyes, but as time progressed it slowly began to get dimmer and dimmer.

"The Sun god Leto… It was my last hope… now I'm about to die with it… but it will finally see him again."

It was then that Rose saw someone standing above her, she was beginning to wonder if she was seeing things, but then it all made sense, he had come for her.

"Cain…"

She tried to raise her hand, but she couldn't do it. It had burnt too badly and was almost entirely covered in sand. Then everything went black.

**(To be continued)**


	2. The Masked Alchemist

_"Where am I?"_

Rose couldn't recall anything that had happened after she thought she saw Cain. Her body felt cold all over. Her burns still stung, but they weren't hurting as bad as they used to.

"If this is the afterlife then where is he? He should be here, shouldn't he? Maybe this isn't paradise… maybe this is Hell… wait…"

If Rose was dead, then how could her body still feel pain? Why did she even still have a body?

"No… no… no… no!"

Rose opened her eyes. This wasn't the afterlife. She was floating in what appeared to be a pool full of ice water in what appeared to be hollowed out room in the ground. Sitting a few feet away from her was a man dressed head to toe in black. He was wearing a trench coat, a mask that covered his whole face, and a cowboy hat.

"You're finally awake. You're lucky I just happened to be passing by when I did, otherwise you probably wouldn't have woken up at all."

His voice was deep and distorted, but Rose didn't care.

"You bastard!"

Rose got out of the pool and punched the stranger in his mask, but she immediately regretted it. Her hand felt like she had just tried to punch an iron wall.

"I strongly advise you not to do that again."

"What the hell is that thing made of?"

"I'm dressed head to toe in body armor, it's necessary for someone in my line of work."

As Rose looked down at her hand, she remembered that she was naked. She frantically looked around and grabbed a towel, as she made her way to grab it she felt her burns sting.

"What is a young woman like you doing naked in the middle of the desert? Since you don't have any injuries apart from your burns I think it's safe to assume you weren't raped. The state of your feet leads me to believe that you've been on foot for awhile. It gives the impression that you have a death wish."

Rose was speechless. All she wanted to do was die in peace, but here she was soaking wet, covered in severe sunburns and wearing nothing but a towel with a creepy man dressed in black looking at her."

"Was it about finances or was there a man in it?"

"What?"

"Like I just said, no one would go strolling through the desert in their birthday suit unless they wanted to die. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this has something to do with a man."

"Shut up… you don't know anything about me. And who the hell are you anyway?"

"Someone who cares that you just tried to throw your life away."

"What I do with my life is none of your concern! I lost the only man I ever loved"

"We all lose people, that's part of life."

"Well I don't want to live!"

"Then you and I have a very big problem."

Rose started to run, but just then something struck her arms and legs and they became very heavy. Moments later she fell face first into the sand. She looked up to see that her limbs were covered in thick blocks of ice.

"Now while you're just lying there, I think we should do something about those burns."

Before Rose could protest she felt the man's bare hands against her body. His fingers were coated with a thick gelatin-like balm that felt like freezing ice against her skin. She cried and gasped whenever he touched her, but then little by little the burns began to subside, this relief caused her to moan.

"Don't touch me there!"

"Are you saying you'd rather walk around with sunburn on your legs and backside?"

"I wouldn't have to worry about burns if it weren't for you!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, or do you not know where suicides end up?"

Now Rose was actually starting to cry. This was so humiliating. All she wanted to do was die in peace, but here she was lying naked and helpless on the ground with a masked man touching her in places where he fiancé hadn't even touched her.

"Okay, now for the other side."

It was impossible to tell how this person felt about looking at Rose's bare breasts; his mask even covered his eyes.

"Don't make that face; you're the one who walked naked into the desert in the first place. There are much easier and less painful ways to kill yourself; but since you didn't choose one of those options I'm guessing you couldn't find the guts to actually pull a trigger or tie your own noose. You're just very lucky that the first person to find you hadn't been a real pervert, I shudder to think what would have happened then."

So far he had only seemed to touch Rose out of necessity, if he was enjoying it too much then he wasn't showing it.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I've already told you, I'm someone who cares."

"And just who the hell are you?"

"I don't reveal my true identity to anyone; otherwise I'd never be able to get any sleep at night. But I am known throughout Amestris as The Masked Alchemist."

**(To be continued)**


	3. Against the flow of the Universe

"You're the who?"

"I didn't expect an upstanding woman like you to know who I am, but I'm the most feared bounty hunter in all of Amestris, if the price is right I can get the job done."

"_Oh great."_ thought Rose _"As if it wasn't bad enough that I'm still alive and naked in the presence of some lunatic dressed head to toe in black and wearing a mask, he turns out to be a money hungry bounty hunter."_

"Why's a big shot bounty hunter like you running across the desert saving women who don't want to be saved?"

"I'm on a job that's presently leading me to Xing. Like I said, I just happened to be passing you along the way. But since I can see that you still don't seem to have any desire to continue living, it looks like you're coming with me."

"Since when do bounty hunters care about girls that don't want to live?"

"I'm not like other bounty hunters, in more ways than one."

He took out four red dice from his coat and placed them upon each of the ice blocks that bound Rose to the ground.

"What are those?"

"Hold still."

He touched each of the dice with his fingers, and then they began to glow and surge with energy, just like that the ice melted.

"What was that?"

"That's one way I use my alchemy."

"Wait, you can't just use your hands?"

"No, you need a transmutation circle to do it, like the ones carved on the surfaces of these dice."

"But Ed… the Fullmetal Alchemist did it with his bare hands."

"Did he now? I guess I'll have to look into that. But right now I'm on a job, and you're coming with me."

Rose could see that it was pointless to argue with this guy. She had already tried to take her own life once, and for some reason he was very determined not to let that happen again.

"Could you at least provide me with some clothes?"

"Unfortunately I don't carry women's clothing with me, but you can use what I have. Put on a coat, it's freezing outside."

"Since when is it freezing in the desert?"

"Clearly you've never had to cross one at night."

Night had indeed fallen over the desert. Rose was wearing a thick leather jacket and she still felt the cold. The Masked Alchemist collapsed his makeshift shelter with his alchemy and then loaded his things into the vehicle which had been parked a few feet away.

"What is this thing?"

"It's a special all terrain transport I designed for occasions like this. Get in."

If Rose tried to run away she figured this guy would no doubt freeze her legs again. For now there was no other choice. As they drove across the desert sands she silently cried and wondered how things could have gone so wrong.

"_Why couldn't I just die in peace?"_

The Masked Alchemist looked over his shoulder just in time to see Rose wiping the tears from her face. He decided that he needed to break the silence.

"You mentioned earlier that you've seen the Fullmetal Alchemist in action before. I'd like you to tell me about it."

"Why?"

"I make it a hobby of mine to study any persons of interest, just in case someone ever hires me to take care of them."

Rose could see no reason why she shouldn't tell this man what she knew, after all the Elric brother had destroyed the only hope she had left, and the uprising that had followed left the streets of her home covered in blood.

"Human transmutation? That sure explains a lot."

"Is it true what they said, that's it's absolutely impossible to bring someone back?" asked Rose.

"Unfortunately it is. Alchemy is built on the principle of Equivalent Exchange; in order to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. Human lives and souls are priceless, not just according to the laws of alchemy, but the very flow of the universe itself, once a soul has left the mortal plane it can't be called back by human means. That's what happened to their bodies, they attempted too much out of too little, result in a deadly rebound. Even with a Philosopher's Stone it would be impossible."

"And you know that for a fact?"

"Educated guess… But if I thought there was even the slightest chance that loved ones could be brought back from the dead than I would have tried it myself."

"So… you have lost someone."

"It's why I do what I do. I realized long ago that I could either sit around and feel sorry for myself, or take my grief and do something about it. Though I think it's a safe bet that my circumstances are a lot different from yours."

"You kill for money."

"The people I hunt down are criminals, the money is just a perk, and I don't always kill them. It depends on the situation."

"_The money is just a perk? He enjoys doing this?"_

"So what did happen to you?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"So go ahead and tell me."

"Nice try, but the only people I kill are criminals. I wouldn't dream of hurting an innocent young woman, least of all one as beautiful as you."

"Are you just saying that because you've seen me naked?"

Once again it struck Rose that the first man to see her naked was a bounty hunter, and she didn't even know what his face looked like under that mask, much less what his real name was.

"Not at all. You should never judge a book by its cover, and woman's naked body certainly isn't the first thing you see. What caught my attention the most when I bumped into you earlier today was your hair… even though it was mostly buried in sand."

"_The bounty hunter likes my hair?"_

Rose was quiet for the rest of the night.

**(To be continued)**

**Masked Alchemist Illustration on deviantart**


	4. Arriving in Xing

Rose and her masked captor continued to drive for hours, eventually Rose fell asleep.

"_What were you thinking?"_

Rose couldn't believe her ears. I had been so long she had almost forgotten what his voice sounded like.

"_Cain?"_

"_The woman I loved just tried to take her own life. How do you think that makes me feel?"_

"_Cain I…"_

"_Do you have any idea what you almost did? How could you do that to me, or to your parents?"_

"_I don't want to live without you!"_

"_And you think killing yourself is the solution?!"_

"_What else was I supposed to do?!"_

"_You can act like the woman I wanted to marry! The Rose I know would never take her own life! There's no greater sin than that! Cornello may have filled your head with empty promises, but believe it or not there is a God and there is an afterlife, and you don't want to know what happens to suicides."_

Just like that Cain was gone and Rose was left alone. Little by little the temperature started to rise. She was starting to get scared, until she woke up and realized that it was just the desert. The Masked Alchemist was still driving, but the sun was already high in the sky.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"Did you get any?"

"I don't have time to sleep. My quarry is still on the move."

"What exactly is your quarry?"

"I'm tracking a man named Roderick O'Hara. Nine counts of murder and rape. He broke out of prison a few days ago and added a few more bodies to that number in the process. I've been hired by the government to take him down."

"Since when does the government hire bounty hunters to take down a single escaped murderer?"

"I said the exact same thing to King Bradley after I snuck into his office."

"You got into his office!"

"Look who you're talking too. But to answer your other question, apparently this prisoner is special, and the military can't spare the man-power to pursue him across the border. Apparently there's some psycho on the loose that's been killing State Alchemists."

"Really, which State Alchemists?"

"No one you know."

"Why haven't you gone after him?"

"Two reasons. One: because no one has put a bounty on his head just yet. Two: I don't know that much about him other than that he's apparently an Ishvalan."

"Is the big bad bounty hunter scared?"

"Running off to fight an unknown enemy unprepared isn't courageous, it's suicide. I never go into battle unprepared, why do you think I'm still alive?"

As they drove on through the desert, Rose started to feel overwhelmed by the heat, despite the fact that she and her masked captor were being shielded from the sun.

"There's water under the seat if you need it, or do I need to use another ice die?"

Rose drank some water and splashed the rest of the bottle on her face.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"O'Hara was last seen heading towards a small village a few dozen miles past the boundary of Xing. I estimate it will be a couple more hours before we get there."

"So what's the plan when you find him?"

"I do what I do best."

They continued on in silence for a long time, Rose couldn't stop thinking about the dream she had.

"Murdered."

"What?"

"You asked me earlier why I do what I do. When I was little boy I saw my parents murdered in front of me when some crook broke into our house."

"Then why didn't you just become a police officer or something?"

"Because the system is more crooked than my grandmother's old rocking chair. If I were a state alchemist the military would be telling me who the bad people are, but one of the benefits of being a freelance bounty hunter means I can pick and choose my clients."

"If you dislike the military so much, why are you helping them now?"

"Because the person they're sending me after is a convicted murder and rapist, and I can also take advantage of the situation and redistribute as much of their assets as I can… We're almost there, time to get into character."

"What are you doing?"

"A man in a mask dressed head to toe in black is a little too conspicuous, don't you agree?"

While the Masked Alchemist was doing his business in the car, Rose thought this might be an excellent opportunity to make a run for it. But the dream of her fiancé started to echo in her head.

"_He'd probably find me anyway. He's tracking a single man across the desert, I wouldn't get far."_

"How do I look?"

The person standing in front of Rose was a middle-aged man with a gruff voice and an inch long beard.

"Is this what you really look like?"

"Of course not. You forget, I'm a master of disguise."

"How could I forget? I never knew."

"Now we need to come up with a disguise for you."

"Why?"

"Trust me, when this stuff goes down you won't want people to know that you were here."

First he gave Rose some more of his spare clothes to wear, gave her hat to hide her dyed bangs, and then he painted a fake but incredibly convincing scar on the side of her face.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life."

"I very much doubt that, but I do imagine before this is over it will probably come close. If anyone asks you're my tomboyish daughter. Just remember to follow my lead and try not to draw attention to yourself."

**(To be continued)**


	5. Picking up the Trail

Rose had never seen anything quite like the Xingese village in which she and her unknown companion found themselves. The buildings were constructed a lot different from the ones she knew in Reole. In addition to their unique clothes, most people even wore their hair differently.

"If you're going to insist on keeping an eye on me for the foreseeable future, can we at least get me some new clothes?"

"Maybe later, if you behave."

"Who are you, my father? Besides we're just looking around as it is."

"Not true, I know exactly where to look."

"And where's that?"

"O'Hara's record shows that he's a heavy drinker. He has spent the last several years of his life deprived of his favorite drink. To my knowledge there is only one place in this village that sells that particular concoction. If he isn't there right now then maybe someone will be able to tell us if they've seen him."

"I'm not old enough to drink."

"You won't have to. Besides, where we're going they don't ask you if you're old enough."

"How do you know all this?"

"My work takes me places."

As Rose and her escort made their way, the Xingese citizens they passed by looked less and less friendly. Some of them were giving her looks.

"Don't worry, if they want you they'll have to get through me, and I eat punks like these for breakfast."

When they came to the bar they found that it had been burned to the ground.

"These burns aren't even a day old; I think it's safe to assume that we're on the right track."

"But what do we do now?"

"I'd like to know why O'Hara would burn down the only local place that serves his favorite drink; unfortunately investigating a fire is a real pain in the neck. Any evidence the fire didn't destroy was probably trampled by the fire brigade."

Rose and her captor spent the next hour looking for anyone who had witnessed what had occurred at the bar. It took a couple tries, but they finally got lucky when some punk made a go at Rose.

"That is no way to treat a lady, especially my daughter."

The Masked Alchemist had the pervert disarmed and on the ground in one swift motion.

"If you can tell us what occurred this evening at the Blue Moon bar, I might just consider letting you go without breaking any bones."

"Some foreigner pissed off the wrong people, a fight broke out, and then the foreigner transformed into some kind of monster."

"Transformed?"

"Yeah into some kind of freaky reptile thing that could breathe fire. He tore those guys limbs from limb and burned the place down."

"Where did he go?"

"I didn't stick around long enough to find out. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could."

"Is this what the foreigner looked like?" asked the Masked Alchemist showing him O'Hara's wanted poster.

"Yeah, that's definitely him."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"What are you, a cop or something?"

"Do I look like a cop?"

"Do you honestly believe what he said?" asked Rose after the thug had run of.

"A big part of my job is being able to tell when someone is lying. He wasn't."

"But how is that possible?"

"There's nothing in O'Hara's file that said anything about being able to transform into any kind of monster. Also he was just a common run of the mill criminal. I think I'm beginning to understand what King Bradley meant when he said this was a special case… I'll be sure to ask him about it when I collect my bounty."

"What's the next step?"

"A monster is sure to stick out like a sore thumb, let alone one that happens to be a convicted criminal on the run. If he hasn't left the village already then he won't be sticking around very long."

He took out a map of the area and looked at it.

"This is where the Blue Moon is… or was. These areas received significant amounts of damage during his escape. He could have fled in this direction, but if he had then the nearest village isn't for over fifteen miles."

He stared at the map for about five minutes before he made up his mind.

"There."

After they had left the town, he changed back into his usual attire, but advised Rose to maintain her own disguise until everything blew over.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"I've taken all factors into consideration, and have established O'Hara's most probable course of action. I'm ninety-five percent sure we're on the right course."

"Only ninety-five?"

"There's always margin forever. Tracking people isn't the same thing as tracking animals. You can't always anticipate the human mind."

"So basically, you're saying you need to take into account that some people are stupid and won't always do the smart thing?"

"Exactly."

After about fifteen minutes of driving, Rose could no longer stand the silence.

"How much longer am I going to be held against my will?"

"Until you decide that life is worth living."

"I haven't tried to kill myself again yet, haven't I?"

"Only because I'm here. I can tell that you're getting better, but you're not quite there yet."

"_Why does this guy care about me so much? We don't even know each other."_

Rose could only think of one reason.

"Is this all because you saw me naked?"

"You're a very attractive woman, but that has nothing to do it. Besides, whose fault is it that I saw you in a state of undress?"

"I guess I've got to give you that one."

The continued driving for awhile even after the sun had set. That's when they hit what they thought was a pothole. When they got out of the car they found that what they had been driving through were actually huge footprints.

"These are fresh. Whatever made them is close."

**(To be continued)**


	6. Under the Mask

"Stay close to me… he's around here somewhere." said the Masked Alchemist bringing his voice down to a whisper.

"Why are you so calm?" asked Rose "That pervert back in the village said this guy could breathe fire."

"Trust me, I've seen a lot worse."

"Really?"

"Yes, I was once hired to kill an alchemist who had been kidnapping people and was using them for his experiments. He tried to use their blood to create the fabled Elixir of Life. It turned out he was able to mutate his body and create four additional limbs that had cannons on them."

"You alchemists can do things like that but you can't bring a person back to life?"

"Mutation is far from being impossible; in fact it's a big part of the evolutionary process. As I've already told you, raising the dead is another matter entirely; and now is not the time for a repeat lecture."

The Masked Alchemist was able to move silently through the woods, but Rose might as well have been shooting off cannons, albeit it wasn't intentional. After about fifteen minutes he gestured for her to stop.

"What is it?"

"Shh!"

Rose started hearing sounds all around her; suddenly he spun around and hurled one of his dice past her head. Rose turned around in time to see the die explode on contact with a filthy looking man and envelope him in ice.

"Warn me before you do something like that!"

"If I had stopped to warn you, you'd probably be dead right now."

O'Hara started to swear and curse, but then his voice started to sound inhumane.

"You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you… I'm… gonna…"

His body started to morph and change color. Within moments the ice shattered and Rose and her captor found themselves face to face with a reptilian monster with wings.

"What the hell is this guy?!" screamed Rose jumping back.

"If I had to take an educated guess, I'd say he's a chimera!" said the Masked Alchemist dodging the creature's claws.

Rose had seen a chimera before in Cornello's church, but it had been an abominable cross between a lion, some kind of bird, and another creature. This was something else entirely.

"I ain't going back!" bellowed the monster as he slashed at The Masked Alchemist "Look what they did to me!"

The Masked Alchemist had never seen anything like this. Chimeric research was a legitimate branch of bio-alchemy, but it was considered by many alchemists to be a science built upon countless dead ends and false starts. Most chimeras were just abominable crosses between different species of animals, yet here he was face to face with a human chimera. If he weren't so busy fighting for his life he would have wondered who had managed to pull something like this off.

"Eat this!"

The Masked Alchemist hurled several dice that exploded on contact with the chimera, but if it felt any pain then it wasn't showing it.

"You're making me… very… angry… RAAAAAAHHHH!"

The chimera started shooting fire out of his mouth, setting several of the surrounding trees ablaze.

"Oh great, it just has to breathe fire too."

The chimera mustn't have learned how to fly, otherwise it probably would have fled by now. Instead the creature was using its wings as makeshift shields, which were surprisingly durable.

"_I have to keep its attention on me and away from Rose."_

At the moment Rose was a couple dozen feet away frozen on the spot. Not too long ago she tried to take her own life, but she just couldn't, and so she tried to let nature do it for her, but this stranger in a mask kept her from dying, now he had dragged her all the way across the desert to Xing and was now face to face with this monstrosity.

"_Why am I even still alive?"_

"WILL YOU SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY!" he yelled dodging another attack from the creature "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE REASON YOU COULDN'T BRING YOURSELF TO END YOUR OWN LIFE?! DEEP DOWN YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

It took Rose a minute, but she began to remember all the thing she ever wanted to do with her life that she hadn't yet done. Things she would never get the chance to do if she had died.

"YOU'RE STILL ALIVE FOR A REASON! THINK ABOUT YOUR…"

Before the Masked Alchemist could finish his sentence, the chimera shot him in the face with a fire ball. He screamed and chucked his mask away, giving the creature more than enough time to slash him across the chest.

"NO!"

Just like that the creature remembered Rose.

"Oh… you're a fiery one, let's see if you taste as good as you look."

As the hideous winged monster flew at her, Rose made her decision. She picked up a nearby twig, and when the creature was right on top of her she rammed it into his eye.

"ARGH! YOU FILTY BITCH, THAT WAS MY EYE!"

The creature began swiping blindly at Rose, but then a huge chunk of ice exploded and stuck the creature to a tree.

"EAT THIS!"

The Masked Alchemist got up and chucked a black die that landed in the creature's mouth.

"TAKE COVER!"

Just like that the monster's head exploded, leaving Rose and the now unmasked alchemist alone and face to face. Despite the fact that he had been hit dead on with a fireball, it looked like his mask had taken all the damage. Rose had expected to see some kind of bitter and dirty middle aged man, but he didn't look much older than she was. He had thick but short brown hair and deep piercing black eyes.

"I guess I owe you an introduction… My name is Nick Ripley. I was just your average everyday nothing special guy from a small down until that fateful night I lost my parents."

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I've seen your face, assuming that is your real face and not just another disguise, and you just told me your name."

"Think of it as an equivalent exchange. I saw you naked, and I feel naked without my mask on."

"Seeing someone's face isn't the same thing as seeing their whole body."

"Which is why I just told you my name and backstory."

"You know this is sort of a weird thing for us to be talking about right after you just blew off a monster's head." said Rose half laughing.

"Yeah… Now I've got to drive this thing all the way back to Central."

"Not before we do something about those wounds of yours."

Nick had a well built body, but as Rose tended to his chest she saw that it was covered with scars.

"Where did you get all of these?"

"It comes with the job."

"Why do you do this to yourself?"

"I already told you it's because of what happened to my parents."

"I've been meaning to ask you, what happened to the murderer."

"I beat him to death with the fire poker."

"Are you serious?"

"Witnessing the death of your parents will do that to you. I've tried my best to make sure that what happened to me never happens to anyone else, even if I just end up hunting down those that have already committed crimes."

"By the way… thank you… for saving my life."

"You're very welcome." said Nick giving her a smile.

When Rose woke up the next morning she and Nick were still driving, but they had made it back to Amestris. By the end of the day they had made it to Central, but they didn't stay very long.

"Is there a problem?" asked Rose.

"I asked Bradley about what had happened to O'Hara since he was imprisoned, but he told me not to stick my nose anywhere it might get cut off. That's my cue to take the money and go."

Rose saw in the newspapers that things were finally starting to come under control in Reole, Nick was going to take her home first thing in the morning, but first Rose insisted that they sleep in some proper accommadations.

"Oh my god, it feels like forever since I've had a shower…"

When Rose was done in the shower she saw that Nick was still wide awake.

"Don't you ever sleep?" she asked.

"Just making sure we weren't followed. I don't trust Bradley."

Rose sat down on the bed. After everything that had happened, what the government did with it's convicted criminals was the last thing on her mind.

"You know… it wasn't until after you saved me that I remembered all the things I've wanted to do in life.

"Like…"

"Well… There is one thing I've always wanted to…"

Without warning she dropped her robe.

"I'd like to propose a little equivalent exchange."

Rose and Nick made love for hours. By the time they were done she was gasping and moaning like crazy. Every part of her body was tingling with pleasure.

"Oh my god… I've never felt so alive."

"What are you going to do when you get back to Reole?"

"I do whatever I can to help my town… What about you?"

"I'll just keep doing what I do best."

"Can I count on you to drop around every now and then?"

"For you beautiful, I'd do anything."

**The end**


End file.
